Capitalism is the problem

For the last fifteen days a massive oil slick has been flooding 400 km of the Galician coast. The inaction of the Spanish and regional governments, both in the hands of the right wing PP, and their continuous lies regarding the accident, provoked yesterday, Sunday December 1, a demonstration of 200,000 people, despite the torrential rain. This is the tranlation of the leaflet distributed by the Galician Marxists of El Militante. The leaflet is also available in Galician (O capitalismo é o problema) and Spanish
(El capitalismo es el problema).

The oil slick caused by the sinking of the Prestige
oil tanker is an environmental, economic and social disaster.

An environmental disaster because its effects on marine life
are extremely serious and will last for many years. An economic and social
disaster because fishing and shellfish farming are the main activities for
thousands of people, either directly (fishermen and shellfish farmers) or
indirectly (food transformation industries, transport, etc), who are now
suddenly deprived of their source of income.

But oil slicks are not natural accidents. Convenience flags,
old tankers in a state of disrepair, the illegal washing up of tankers in open
sea, the flouting of existing law, etc are all the result of the greediness of
capitalists, always searching for higher returns. The interests of the oil
companies and the pirates who transport their goods are considered more
important than the interests of the majority of society.

It is the same search for economic profitability which drives
all aspects of the Popular Party policies, both in the Spanish government and in
the regional Xunta government, from their policies on education, to health care,
labour policies, housing, etc. Workers and youth cannot expect anything else
from the right wing politicians other than their open defence of the interests
of Capital. The facts speak for themselves: there is a scandalous lack of
resources to fight against the oil slick (there are just a few kilometres of
anti-pollution barriers, and other means are just not there). But this is not by
chance. The regional fisheries minister, Lopez Veiga, already made it very clear
that Galicia would not buy an anti-pollution ship since there is only one
accident every ten years. So, since this is not a profitable investment, it is
not worth making. If the PP takes this line of argument to its last consequences
we will not be surprised if they propose the closing down of the fire service!
The PP is shedding crocodile tears.

But on top of the complete inefficiency of the Spanish and
Galician governments, there are also serious political responsibilities. The PP
is lying and manipulating information in the same way we were used to under the
Franco dictatorship, something we already witnessed during the June 20 general
strike. One must have a lot of nerve to deny the very existence of the oil
slick! The PP government is also increasingly using more repressive measures: in
the last few days it has banned a demonstration against the Education
"Quality" Law and got the police to charge against a demonstration of
agricultural labourers in Malaga.

The Marxists of El Militante make an appeal to all
workers and youth to participate in the demonstration in Santiago on Sunday
December 1. We must demand the necessary subsidies and this should last in time
for as long as they are needed for all those affected by the oil slick. At the
same time demand the adoption of prevention measures regarding maritime
transport and the establishment in a Galician harbour of an anti-pollution union
equipped with the most modern materials in order to guarantee a quick and
effective intervention when faced with this kind of situation.

But we must also put a stop to the dictatorship of the market
which is based only in profits and condemns hundreds of millions of human beings
to squalor. Oil slicks like this, the climate change, the misery, illnesses and
suffering of millions are caused in the last instance by the private property of
the means of production and the unfair distribution of wealth which the working
class has created with its labour. They are caused by capitalism. A clear
example of this is Argentina, a country which is one of the world’s largest
exporter of food, and where at the same time there are children dying of hunger.
Thus, the only real way of preventing a repetition of disasters like the one
created by the sinking of the Prestige is to transform society, to put an
end to this barbaric and unfair system, because the main threat to the welfare
and health of human beings and the environment all over the world is precisely
the existence of capitalism.

Join the Marxists of El
Militanteto struggle for the
socialist transformation of society!